Accident-severity scoring device, method, and system

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a device associated with a vehicle, the device including a set of sensors configured to generate a set of data associated with the vehicle; and one or more controllers configured to analyze the set of data to determine if an accident involving the vehicle has occurred, responsive to a determination that an accident involving the vehicle has occurred, determine an accident-severity score associated with the vehicle involved in the accident, the accident-severity score being based on a set of accident-severity scoring rules and at least a portion of the set of data, and transmit an output signal representative of the determined accident-severity score.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for use in determining an appropriate amount of resources to be dispatched to an accident site involving a vehicle operated by a user, the system comprising:
 a mobile device positioned within the vehicle and being associated with the user operating the vehicle, the mobile device including a first set of sensors configured to generate a first set of data associated with the vehicle; 
 a device positioned in the vehicle and communicatively connected with the mobile device such that the device is configured to receive at least a portion of the first set of data from the mobile device, the device having power supply terminals protruding from a housing of the device such that at least a portion of the housing of the device is secured within a cigarette lighter socket of the vehicle and the power supply terminals draw power from the cigarette lighter socket of the vehicle, the device including a second set of sensors configured to generate a second set of data associated with the vehicle, responsive to the device detecting an occurrence of an accident involving the vehicle, the device is configured to:
 (i) determine an accident-severity score associated with the vehicle involved in the accident, the accident-severity score being based on a set of accident-severity scoring rules, at least a portion of the first set of data, at least a portion of the second set of data, or any combination thereof, and 
 (ii) transmit an output signal representative of the determined accident-severity score; and 
 
 a computing device configured to (i) receive the output signal from the device and (ii) based on a set of accident-response rules and the accident-severity score, determine the appropriate amount of resources to be dispatched to the accident site involving the vehicle. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the determination of the appropriate amount of resources is further based on additional information, the additional information including a type of the vehicle, biometric information associated with the user that was collected by one or more sensors prior to the accident, after the accident, or both, an age of the user, a weight of the user, a sex of the user, a medical condition of the user, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , responsive to the device detecting the occurrence of the accident involving the vehicle, the device is further configured to transmit an instruction to the mobile device to (i) activate a video camera of the mobile device, (ii) activate a microphone of the mobile device, or (iii) both (i) and (ii). 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , responsive to the device detecting the occurrence of the accident involving the vehicle, the device is further configured to transmit an instruction to the mobile device to display, on a display device of the mobile device, insurance information. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the determination of the accident-severity score is at least partially based on (i) a determined G-force imparted on the vehicle, (ii) a determined direction of impact imparted on the vehicle, (iii) a determined roll position of the vehicle, (iv) a determined yaw position of the vehicle, (v) a determined change in vehicle facing position, or (vi) any combination thereof. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of sensors includes a movement sensor, a position sensor, an image sensor, an electronic nose sensor, a vital sign detector, an audio sensor, or any combination thereof, and wherein the second set of sensors includes a movement sensor, a position sensor, an image sensor, an electronic nose sensor, a vital sign detector, an audio sensor, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 6 , prior to the transmitting of the output signal, the device is further configured to determine, via the electronic nose sensor of the second set of sensors, if a substance is present in the vehicle and responsive to the device determining that the substance is present in the vehicle, modify the determined accident-severity score. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 7 , wherein the substance is gasoline, fuel, natural gas, smoke, fire, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 6 , prior to the transmitting of the output signal, the device is further configured to determine, via the position sensor of the second set of sensors, a geo-location of the vehicle and responsive to the device determining the geo-location of the vehicle, modify the determined accident-severity score. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the determining of the geo-location includes a determination of (i) whether the vehicle is located on a road having a speed limit that is greater than or less than a predetermined or pre-calculated miles per hour, (ii) whether the vehicle is more than or less than a predetermined or pre-calculated miles from a hospital, or (iii) both (i) and (ii). 
     
     
       11. A method of determining an appropriate amount of resources to be dispatched to an accident site involving a vehicle operated by a user, the method comprising:
 generating, via a first set of sensors of a device positioned within the vehicle, a first set of data associated with the vehicle, the device being powered via power supply terminals protruding from a housing of the device such that at least a portion of the housing of the device is secured within a cigarette lighter socket of the vehicle and the power supply terminals draw power from the cigarette lighter socket of the vehicle; 
 receiving, via a communications module of the device, a second set of data, the second set of data being generated via a second set of sensors of a mobile device positioned within the vehicle; 
 detecting an occurrence of an accident involving the vehicle; 
 responsive to the detecting, determining an accident-severity score associated with the vehicle involved in the accident, the accident-severity score being based on a set of accident-severity scoring rules, at least a portion of the generated first set of data, at least a portion of the received second set of data, or any combination thereof; 
 transmitting, via the communications module of the device, an output signal representative of the determined accident-severity score; and 
 determining, based on a set of accident-response rules and the accident-severity score, the appropriate amount of resources to be dispatched to the accident site involving the vehicle. 
 
     
     
       12. A system for use in determining an accident-severity score for an accident involving a first vehicle operated by a first user and a second vehicle operated by a second user, the system comprising:
 a first device positioned in the first vehicle, the first device having power supply terminals protruding from a housing of the first device such that at least a portion of the housing of the first device is secured within a cigarette lighter socket of the first vehicle and the power supply terminals draw power from the cigarette lighter socket of the first vehicle, the first device including a first set of sensors configured to generate a first set of data associated with the first vehicle, responsive to the first device detecting an occurrence of a first accident involving the first vehicle, the first device is configured to:
 (i) determine a first accident-severity score associated with the first vehicle involved in the first accident, the first accident-severity score being based on a set of accident-severity scoring rules and a first portion of the first set of data, and 
 (ii) transmit a second portion of the first set of data and a first output signal representative of the determined first accident-severity score; 
 
 a second device positioned in the second vehicle, the second device having power supply terminals protruding from a housing of the second device such that at least a portion of the housing of the second device is secured within a cigarette lighter socket of the second vehicle and the power supply terminals draw power from the cigarette lighter socket of the second vehicle, the second device including a second set of sensors configured to generate a second set of data associated with the second vehicle, responsive to the second device detecting an occurrence of a second accident involving the second vehicle, the second device is configured to:
 (i) determine a second accident-severity score associated with the second vehicle involved in the second accident, the second accident-severity score being based on the set of accident-severity scoring rules and a first portion of the second set of data, and 
 (ii) transmit a second portion of the second set of data and a second output signal representative of the determined second accident-severity score; 
 
 a computing device configured to (i) receive the first output signal from the first device, (ii) receive the second output signal from the second device, (iii) receive the second portion of the first set of data, (iv) receive the second portion of the second set of data, (v) determine, based at least in part on the received second portion of the first set of data and the received second portion of the second set of data, that the first accident is the same as the second accident, and (vi) responsive to the determination that the first accident is the same as the second accident, modify the determined first accident-severity score, the determined second accident-severity score, or both. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the modification is based at least in part on additional information, the additional information including a type of the first vehicle, a type of the second vehicle, biometric information associated with the first user, biometric information associated with the second user, an age of the first user, an age of the second user, a weight of the first user, a weight of the second user, a sex of the first user, a sex of the second user, a medical condition of the first user, a medical condition of the second user, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the additional information is received by the computing device from the first device, from the second device, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the computing device is further configured to determine an appropriate amount of resources to be dispatched to the accident site involving the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on (i) a set of accident-response rules, (ii) the first accident-severity score, (iii) the modified first accident-severity score, (iv) the second accident-severity score, (v) the modified second accident-severity score, (vi) or any combination thereof. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the first portion of the first set of data is different than the second portion of the first set of data and wherein the first portion of the second set of data is different than the second portion of the second set of data. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 a first mobile device positioned within the first vehicle and being associated with the first user operating the first vehicle, the first mobile device including a third set of sensors configured to generate a third set of data associated with the first vehicle, the first mobile device being communicatively connected with the first device such that the first device is configured to receive at least a portion of the third set of data from the first mobile device; and 
 a second mobile device positioned within the second vehicle and being associated with the second user operating the second vehicle, the second mobile device including a fourth set of sensors configured to generate a fourth set of data associated with the second vehicle, the second mobile device being communicatively connected with the second device such that the second device is configured to receive at least a portion of the fourth set of data from the second mobile device. 
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein the first accident-severity score is further based on at least a portion of the third set of data and wherein the second accident-severity score is further based on at least a portion of the fourth set of data. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 17 , responsive to the determination that the first accident is the same as the second accident, the computing device is further configured to transmit first information associated with the first user to the second mobile device and transmit second information associated with the second user to the first mobile device.